Can little kids be food addicts or binge eaters? Take a look at the behavioral factors of children's eating habits and how parents can influence healthier eating in their families.

My daughter loves to eat.

This is a 7-year old who wants to start an eating club because she loves food. She points out characters in books who are eating her favorite foods. Like Wilbur the pig in "Charlotte's Web," she wishes she could have four meals a day, instead of just three.

Is she obsessed with food? Perhaps. But she's in good company: Parents across the country deal with toddlers hooked on macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or hot dogs. In my daughter's case, it's pasta.

This isn't food addiction. Nor is it binge eating. These kids, for the most part, are getting good, nutritious food, but they'd love to get a whole lot more of it. It may be just one type of food; it may be a whole variety -- peas, fish, fruits and whole wheat bread. Regardless, parents must be aware of what's going into their children, and what they themselves are eating.

"There are no two kids who are the same. Their metabolisms and their body shapes are different, and some of it is environment," says Emma Fogt, a registered dietitian who works with children, teens and families in her practice in Ardmore, PA. "And some kids just have a lot more appetite than others."

Are hungry kids born that way? Programmed to overeat? The jury is still out. But parents can help their children regulate their appetites to avoid becoming part of the growing number -- in 1999, 13 percent of children aged 6 to 11 years – of U.S. children who are obese or have serious weight problems.

Few studies have been done on babies and appetite, but a number of studies of preschoolers show they can regulate appetite on their own, says Jennifer Fisher, assistant professor of pediatrics and a researcher with the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Fisher and other Baylor researchers are looking at behavioral factors of children's eating habits and what role portion size has on those habits.

Fisher says young children are "pretty much in tune with hunger and fullness cues," indicating that on average, they know when to say when. And it may appear as if the child is a picky eater or is fixated on one food, but over the course of a day, that same child is mostly likely getting enough of the right nutrients to keep his body moving. "A child may jump around at mealtime or pick at food from meal to meal, but if you look at it across the day, they get what they need."

The problems start when environmental factors – family, school and day care – enter the picture as the child gets older: Kids learn about food from their parents.

"Kids are tuned in to what they're seeing. They're learning things by observing how other family members are eating and what they're eating," says Fisher. "Few people are studying why kids are eating what they're eating. We know what they're eating, but we don't know why."

What they're eating is high-fat, high-sugar convenience foods. Moms and dads lead busy lives, so offering a child a chocolate chip cookie is a lot easier than coring and slicing up an apple. "We have to take a good look at the quality of food kids are getting," says dietician Fogt. "Kids need a lot more grains, fruits and vegetables. It's an effort to eat healthy."

Fogt emphasizes that the parent's responsibility is to provide healthy food and decide when and where their child will eat, whether it be in a car, in front of the TV or in the kitchen. The child's responsibility is to eat.

"But that's where it becomes hard and battles ensue," when a 3-year old demands potato chips before he eats his chicken breast, says Fogt. To avoid the battles and make the whole family happy, she recommends that at each meal, the parent provide a selection of healthy food, a new food, and usually one food that the child likes. She adds:

• Parents should not short-order cook. Once the meal is ready, no one gets to demand a food that isn't already on the table.
• Parents are models. When we drink a diet soda or eat standing up reading a magazine, what message are we sending our kids?
• Parents may commend children for making healthy food selections or perhaps for trying a new food, but should not praise children for cleaning their plates.

"You …have the opportunity to give her even better foods and moderate the helpings," says Fogt. "Some kids don't have appetite control. Some kids just eat voraciously. Saying 'no' is a reasonable limit."

The American Dietetic Association also offers tips on helping children maintain an acceptable weight. "Kids need support, guidance and most of all an understanding that healthy eating and physical activity habits are important now and later," the group says in one of its daily tip sheets. Parents should:

• Offer foods that follow the Food Guide Pyramid in terms of balance and options
• Set a good example by eating with kids and making healthy choices
• Not use food as a reward or punishment
• Let children decide when they've had enough to eat
• Help children learn to accept responsibility for the food choices they make
• Encourage regular physical activity

Exercise is very important, according to Napa, CA registered dietician Sanna James Delmonico, editor of Tiny Tummies newsletter at www.tinytummies.com. "And it doesn't have to be formal 'exercise' like soccer or basketball -- although sports are wonderful and there are likely indoor soccer and basketball leagues, gymnastics, martial arts and many other activities in snowy places. Playing in the snow, walking in the rain, or Rollerblading in the garage are all great. I also think it is important to be active as a family: Ride bikes, work in the yard, or have a snowball fight together."